Rutland, MA Earthworks Board
Meeting Minutes – February 1st, 2018
Members present: Peter Craine, Norm Anderson, Glenn Kauppila, Butch Nadeau
Members absent: none
Guests: Kate Gervais
Meeting was called to order by Peter Craine at 6:33 PM.
Meeting Minutes
Norm moved to accept the minutes from the January 18th meeting as written.
2nd: Glenn
Vote: Unanimous at 6:36 PM
Discussion
Norm moved to recommend Kate Gervais for the At-Large member position.
2nd: Butch
Vote: Unanimous at 6:38 PM
Peter had prepared a letter recommending Kate, based on her interest at January meeting. Norm and Glenn offered several grammatical and spelling changes.
Butch moved to send amended letter to BOS via Town Clerk.
2nd: Glenn
Vote: Unanimous at 6:40 PM
Kate will submit a letter of interest to BOS.
Glenn has been sworn in by TC.
Peter has attempted to contact Adam Sousa regarding activation of Earthworks Board email address. No response has been received as of this meeting.
The Conservation Commission has not met since the last EB meeting. Peter will obtain copy of open Earth Removal permit at their next meeting.
Peter has indicated that his proposed modifications to Earth Removal by-law currently consist of mostly punctuation changes. Legal review is still in progress.
All town by-laws are currently undergoing codification process. Modernization of by-laws may/will happen after codification.
Peter asked that members examine the Earth Removal By-law prior to the next EB meeting, in preparation for writing necessary associated regulation.
Mission Statement:
- Glenn suggested that part of the mission statement can be appropriated from the Earth Removal By-law, section I.
- Kate mentioned that it cannot exclude business/commerce, and cannot be limited to citizens
- “balancing development and the needs of business and agriculture”
Within the planning/ permitting process:
- There is a need for a “pecking order” – EB should be closer to the front of the process.
- This could require changes in regulation by other boards to include EB.
- Peter mentioned that most people deal with Planning Board and Con Comm in parallel. No apparent reason EB could not also happen simultaneously.
- EB may need to establish thresholds, so as not to bog down process.
- Norm suggested a cohesive, streamlined permitting process be created.
- If hearings are warranted, can be held concurrently.
- Rules need to be obvious and accessible. Other boards have run into problems when applicants don’t know rules, or are made to wait excessively.
Correspondence:
Lynn Kelly via Margaret and Peter: Princeton resident concerned about truck traffic to Jordan Dairy Farm. Party was advised the project at JDF operates under an Administrative Consent Order, with no time or quantity restrictions. Project is inspected monthly by an independent third party who observes elevation and footprint.
Next Meeting:
The Board’s next meeting will tentatively be held February 22, 2018 at 6:30 PM. This is a departure from the normal bi-weekly schedule, and Peter will confirm.
Adjournment:
Glenn moved to adjourn the meeting.
2nd: Butch
Vote: Unanimous at 7:29 PM.
Respectfully submitted,
Kate Gervais
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